Voodoo Moon

I liked the idea of Voodoo Moon and I was particularly excited to see a movie with Charisma Carpenter and John Amos. I was so disappointed! The storyline was incomprehensible. There were elements introduced throughout the movie--an appearance in a graveyard, pictures drawn, and childhood memories--that never added up to anything pertinent to the storytelling. As for the sister, her power was alluded to many times, but never really explained. Worse, the acting stunk. I say this, despite the fact that I adore Charisma Carpenter and respect John Amos. I usually applaud their acting, but that is impossible to do with their lifeless performances in Voodoo Moon. The movie committed the worst possible crime: it bored me. I couldn't keep my attention on it. Many opportunities for suspense are wasted by the director and the actors. There is absolutely nothing to recommend in this film.

I'm a huge Charisma Carpenter fan. This said, I was disappointed by this movie. Her charm did not come through, in fact NONE of the actors seemed to be doing much acting in this movie. I think the best performances came from Rik Young who played the evil Daniel, and Jeffrey Combs who seemed to have fun playing a good zombie, although his performance was terrible until the point where his character died, then he became downright hilarious, in a probably not really trying to be funny kind of way, I'm not sure if I was laughing at his character or with the actor playing the character.

The sad thing is, I've seen most of these actors/actresses do great jobs in other shows/films, I would have to blame the director on this flop.

Generally poorly explained happenings, flat acting, and terrible special effects. But Charisma is still beautiful.

Personally, I think SciFi Channel films are hit or miss, sweet fruit or rotten onions. Don't get me wrong, I'm no high-brow and I enjoy lots of b-grade (as well as c or d-grade schlock). This one surprised me; it was much better than I'd expected. I first decided to watch it to see how the lovely Charisma Carpenter has fared post-Angel, and I was quite pleased with her performance. The rest of the cast did a good job as well, especially cult fave Jeffrey Combs! He added a bit of humor and heart to the good vs. evil plot that could've been a lot heavier. Also, I was pleased and surprised to see John Amos as the biker Dutch - this guy is in his mid-sixties yet played the part of some 30-something tough guy and he looked YOUNGER and in better shape than his GOOD TIMES days. Amazing. Anyway, I digress. The film features a good story, better-than-average effects for the budget and kept me watching (and awake). It's worth the viewing!

I wasn't sure about Voodoo Moon at first, but after seeing it while less than perfect it wasn't bad and one of SyFy's more tolerable efforts. It looks decent with the effects not too cheap and the filming stylish on the most part. The acting is also better than average, especially from Charisma Carpenter and Jeffrey Combs, and the premise is great and helped in the film by a great opening sequence and a nice ending. The music also has its haunting parts, and doesn't interfere with the tone too much. On the other hand, while not as annoying and stereotypical as I have known SyFy characters to be the characters don't have much to them, if anything especially in the case of John Amos's character they were underdeveloped. The story does begin and end promisingly and has one good jump scare and a strong atmosphere, but the pace drags too often, apart from one scare the film is not very scary and the middle is too reminiscent of overlong exposition. There are worse scripts around, but generally it doesn't flow very naturally and nothing really stands out. Overall, not a bad movie and surprisingly tolerable by SyFy standards, but still lacking for me. 6/10 Bethany Cox

I watched this flick mainly because of the main actors: Eric Mabius, Charisma Carpenter, Jeffrey Combs, Dee Wallace and John Amos. The storyline caught my attention. I thought this would be at least interesting. It was horrible! I'd give this the SUPER ISHTAR Award! Even Ishtar was a better film! Attack of the Killer Tomatoes would have won an Academy Award if compared to Voodoo Moon. I even love camp B-grade films but this one was F-Grade! It is totally slug slow and boring. The script writing and directing are incredibly lame, the acting is lethargic (did they feed the actors Thorazine?). Did Kevin VanHook win a lottery in some state to fund this fiasco? I could have done better with an 8mm video camera and local talent! Because I needed to see the end, it took me three different days to finally finish Voodoo Moon. I started and stopped the DVD several times. The initial plot was interesting, but the development of the storyline was so infantile. There were many open holes that were never filled in. The ending of this movie just drops off into some sort of empty black hole. Kevin VanHook may have some good credits to his name for video effects but after looking at the other films he as written, directed or produced, I think I will totally avoid any future films he purports to deliver. Pure BUNK!